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Officials in the city have taken into custody thirteen people on suspicion of manslaughter in connection with the recent devastating fire, amid increasing public outcry over the arrests of civilians demanding responsibility.

Search Continues as Fatalities Rises

Emergency services continued to search through the seven-building complex of the Wang Fuk Court estate in the Tai Po district on the start of the week, following the city’s deadliest fire in seven and a half decades. The death toll rose to 151 and is expected to rise higher as the search goes on. Approximately forty people are still missing.

Renovations Linked to Cause of Blaze

The estate, home to almost 5,000 people, had been undergoing extensive renovations that have been associated with the fire’s cause. In the wake of the tragedy, public fury has escalated over reported past safety violations by the contractor working at the location and lax enforcement of safety codes, fuelled by revelations that residents had been complaining about the renovations for a year.

Arrests Include Corporate Executives

On Monday afternoon, officials said the anti-graft agency had detained thirteen people over the disaster so far, including the executives and an engineering consultant of a construction company, and had “immediately begun a thorough probe along the lines of manslaughter”.

Safety Failures Revealed

A top administrator stated that 7 of 20 tested samples of the scaffolding net used around the towers did not meet fire-retardant standards. Preliminary checks had found materials were compliant, but the official said the cheaper, substandard material had been installed in areas hard to reach in order to evade detection, labeling it a “shameful act”.

“Their sole aim was to make money at the expense of human lives,” the official stated.

Citizens Detained Amid Calls for Accountability

As allegations of safety lapses mount, alongside revelations that government authorities had issued multiple seemingly unenforced warnings, residents have questioned why no government figures have yet been held accountable. Conversely, two civilians were allegedly taken into custody by security forces.

A person, named as a local student, was arrested over an internet appeal that made “four demands” for guaranteed support for the affected families and accountability for those at fault, including any negligent or culpable government officials.

Local media said the student was arrested for “inciting disaffection”. Law enforcement did not verify the detention, saying only that they “will act according to the situation and in accordance with the legal framework”.

News outlets also reported the arrest of a former district councillor.

Official Response on Detentions

Questioned about the arrests, the security chief said there had been “misleading statements on the internet” that were aimed to threaten public security. “As a result, we must take necessary steps, including police action,” the official told a media briefing. “Specifics of the operation cannot be disclosed as they concern state security.”

Social Media Response and Comparisons Drawn

On Hong Kong social media, people criticised the detention of citizens. “State security must be given precedence even if the dead are still trapped in the building,” said one.

Some commenters drew comparisons to mainland China. “The mainland, these crimes are called ‘creating disturbances’,” said one commenter. “They are typically punished with heavy sentences. Social order overrides everything.”

Another said: “Now that we are aligning with the mainland’s approach, by targeting the person who asks questions, no one will venture to question, and thus Hong Kong’s governance will have no problems.”

Heightened Sensitivity and Community Response

The detentions followed warnings by national security authorities that they would take action against anyone considered to be exploiting the incident to stir up “anti-China” sentiment.

Prior to the detentions, authorities had already begun showing heightened sensitivity to the community response. Since the quelling of earlier unrest, civilian gatherings have been strictly regulated. In the immediate aftermath, community volunteers rapidly established aid operations, with hundreds of people using cars and public transport to deliver large quantities of clothes, food and other essentials for the survivors.

Nevertheless, by nightfall, armed police were monitoring the area, and public authorities eventually assumed control from the volunteer organisers.

The petition over which the student was reportedly detained was launched late on Friday. Its “four points” mirrored the language of previous campaigns but did not call for political change.

The student informed reporters that he was only “putting forward very basic requests”.

“If these ideas are considered seditious or ‘transgressive’, then I believe I cannot foresee the outcomes of any action any more, and I can only do what I sincerely think is correct,” he said.